Hey everyone, I just wanted to address this issue I've been thinking about ever since Skyrim was first announced (After I wept tears of joy, of course).

I'm a PS3 gamer. I have all the major systems, but I prefer to game on the PS3. My computer is not the greatest in the world for gaming and I really only play PC exclusives and MMO's on that platform for the most part. I simply prefer the comfort of my couch, my controller, and my T.V. screen. I don't want this to turn into an argument about PC gaming Vs. Console gaming though, I'm just giving you my perspective.

Anyways, the issue I want to discuss is how well the new Skyrim engine will run on the PS3. Oblivion was decidedly better looking on the PS3 than the 360. It also ran a bit smoother and had shorter load times. Now I'm assuming this was because of the extra year Bethesda had to optimize the game for the PS3. Another factor was probably the extra space Blu Ray offered for uncompressed textures and audio. Then we get to Fallout 3 and New Vegas. From what I understand, both of these games had higher resolution textures on the PS3, but it also ran less smoothly and had no anti-aliasing.

Now, I'm not trying to start a flame war about PS3 Vs. 360 either. Quite the contrary. I'm just worried that since Bethesda (Todd Howard specifically I believe) has stated that they put the game on the 360 first (Please correct me if I'm wrong on that), that the PS3 version will suffer a bit in it's performance. I just want the two versions to look and run as similarly as possible for everyone to enjoy.

I know the PS3 is capable of this, with Oblivion as an example. I would gladly wait an extra month or two for Skyrim if it meant Bethesda could optimize the PS3 version to run the new engine as adequately as the 360 version. With the extra space on the Blu Ray disc, the ability to install data on the HDD, and the versatility of the PS3's core, I'm sure this is possible.

I'm mainly worried about this because all the talk we've heard about Skyrim so far has been about the 360 version and the PC version, and the performance issues with Fallout 3 on the PS3. Maybe these worries are completely unfounded and the new engine runs perfectly well on the PS3. I was just hoping to maybe get some info on how the PS3 is handling this amazing new engine you've crafted. I know quite a few PS3 owners that are looking forward to Skyrim, and I think I speak for them all when I bring this topic up.

I don't want anyone to be disappointed with the game regardless of the system they purchase it on, and I know you will do the best you can Bethesda!

Thanks for taking the time to read this, please, feel free to comment on what I've said or to add something new. Just no arguing over systems!

PS: I also think I speak for all PS3 owning Skyrim fans when I say to Bethesda... for the love of all that is gaming, please don't make any DLC a timed elusive to any platform. Fallout is one thing, but this is the Elder Scrolls! Please don't disappoint any of your fans regardless of what system they plan to purchase it on.

Oblivion's engine wasn't originally built for Ps3, and Fallout uses a modified version of Oblivion's engine, so it's expected that there will be some problems on ps3, as was demonstrated with Fallout 3 and New Vegas. As Skyrim is on a new engine (I think?), I'd assume Bethesda did everything in their power to make sure it ran smoothly across all platforms. But their Ps3 track record hasn't really been good up 'til now (late Oblivion release, no DLC, poor Fallout/New Vegas ports, late DLC.) so we'll have to wait and see.

EDIT: And for the record, I was a Ps3 player as well until I experienced the disaster that was Point Lookout. I now play Bethesda's games on PC. (Although, after experiencing mods I wouldn't have it any other way.)

I think it will be either:

> PS3 version has better graphics, but suffers fps drops

OR...

> PS3 version is a port of the 360 version, thus slight worse visuals

I agree completly TC, PS3 users often do get the short end of the stick when it comes to multi-platform games. I would also gladly wait a couple months for an optimized version. And I really hope we don't miss out on any DLC this time around.

As a PS3 gamer, I am also worried, but I don't know what to think of it. Even Oblivion, despite supposedly running better on the PS3, had too many framerate drops, for my tastes.

I prefer the 360. My PC can't handle it, so I will get it for the 360. I may have gotten it for the PS3, but I don't like the PS3 controller. As you said, the DLC fiasco as well, but I haven't even gotten the New Vegas DLC yet, so that is not preventing me from getting it for the PS3.

I will get it for the 360 first, and if I hear and read good things for the PS3, then I will get it for that as well. But as you said, Bethesda's track record for the PS3 is not very good.

Oblivions Vampire Bug ring a bell?

How uplifting...

if it runs better on the 360 i will buy a 360 just to play the game.....the 360 will have another price drop by the time skyrim is released.....

Again, how uplifting...

Those of us stuck with no options but the PS3 are being considered doomed, eh? :glare:

I love Bethesda, but I wish they would get the decency to give us the courteousy of the acknowledgement of their previous technical shortcomings, at the very least. Some reassurance that corrective measures are being taken to help make things work out better, this time around, would, in addition, be deeply appreciated.

I wholeheartedly agree. Just a bit of reassurance that they are doing everything they can to make sure Skyrim looks and runs great on every platform would go a long way. Because of Fallout 3's technical issues on the PS3, any extra assurance that the PS3 version is working well with the new engine would be fantastic to hear from Bethesda.

I think that either GSTAFF or Nick said that the PS3 version was looking real good too. It was on a recent article on the bethblog.

this time around it seems they're developing for all 3 systems at the same time.
the reason for the discrepancies between the two consoles probably has to do with the 360 being based on computer tech where as the ps3 has a totally different structure so code doesn't carry over easily to it. however since Bethesda has had plenty of time with it at this point it should turn out alright this time for you ps3 owners.delays in dlc are due to those things i mentioned above and will probably continue to happen.

By "looking", you mean "looking" not "seeming", correct? It can look as fancy as it wants, but what I really want is a game that runs well more than a game that looks good but suffers from an overabundance of bugs and/or framerate issues.

...what the hell happened on fallout's DLC that made you give up the ps3 forever?

fallout 3 is highly unstable and becomes unplayable, i know... but i ditched the game... not the system.

you did it ass-backwards.

Oblivion runs smoother and looks slightly better on the PS3. On top of that, BGS has had an additional few years working with the hardware. I'm not worried at all about the PS3 version. Only thing I'm worried about is we will probably have to wait for DLC just like Dead Money was a timed exclusive for 360.

I sure hope that's the case. I would just appreciate some confirmation that the PS3 is adapting well to the new engine. No just graphically, because that was never the problem. The textures for past Bethesda games on the PS3 have been great for the most part. It's the performance I'm worried about. If I hear from Bethesda "The PS3 version of Skyrim is running great" and not just "looking great" then I would be very happy.

I don't think we'll hear that 8 1/2 months before release. Maybe around June at E3.

I said this in another post. This is not to knock on you or anything like that. I believe Sony is at fault for the lack luster results on the PS3. They haven't trained companies to fully utilize the PS3 capabilites. Bethesda can say, "Frack it, the PS3 is to hard to port to, to hard to code for, we are not going to port it to the PS3, sorry folks." but they don't. They want to give thier fan base to play the game.

So Bethesda may not be the greatest at coding for the PS3. The other alternative is they don't port it for the PS3 and they have less headaches. I think people should be happy that Bethesda tries thier best, even though the results may not be the best. It can be worse. You may have no PS3 version of Skyrim. I believe the saying is true here, "Just be happy you can play it on the PS3". I was happy when Morrowind finally came out on the Xbox. It wasn't perfect, but I was playing it. The other result could have been no Morrowind at all.

So be greatfull for what you have, instead of what you don't have.

Play the PS3 version of Fallout 3 before you tell me it's their best and that I should be grateful, please. It's not to be of offense to you or even Bethesda, but if Fallout 3 was their best, their best is a pile of feces and they need to do better. I've never had the misfortune of playing a more unpolished game. Even Daggerfall seemed more polished. If they warned me before I payed a full $60 for the DLC alone, I would be grateful, but they were content with pretending it worked fine and essentially ripping me off. I really love Bethesda's games, but they weren't doing me a favor. I shouldn't be grateful for the money wasted on a broken product that never got patched, never got acknowledged, and was clearly rushed, let alone built on an engine fine-tuned for the PS3 to the best of Bethesda's capabilities. If they were doing their best, they would have patched Oblivion's vampire cure bug for us or they would have not released such an unfinished mess of DLC. They would not have overlooked something so simple as having what should be purified water actually be purified like it was on the other two versions. They wouldn't have had us wait for those rushed DLC for nearly a year and pretend it was perfectly fine. With those overly large save files and bugs/lagging/freezing issues, Fallout 3 could not have been worse and still be considered a functional product. I'd have been more grateful if I got to keep those $60 and spend it on a game from a game company who actually seems to care about releasing a working product.

No, you misunderstood me. I gave up Bethesda's games on Ps3, as they had proved twice in a row that they weren't capable of suitable Ps3 development. I don't entirely know how New Vegas fared.

It also helped that around the time PL came out I bought a PC capable of running Oblivion/FO3.

No offense is taken. I can see where you are upset with Fallout 3. I would be upset as well. The thing is, now you have lernt something. In your eyes, Bethesda can't code on the PS3 very well. (forget about if this is true or not, it's true in Seti's eyes, and he has good reason to believe this.)

So not the question is, because Bethesda can't make a good game on the PS3, should they continue with Skyrim, or they should scrap it and forget the PS3? Know that you know you will have a buggy or subpar product on the PS3, is it better to have it on still, play a buggy game, or not be able to play it at all?

We can't not change what has happened in the past, but we can learn from it my friend. So now we have this knowladge, what are we going to do with? Is it better to play a sub par Skyrim game, or not play it at all?

Again, I was so happy, to play Morrowind on the Xbox, no matter how buggy it was. I was just so happy to play it. I know you are not me, and I am not you. But, what are you going to do with your knowledge that you have lernt?

I am going to do absolutely nothing. The only games I care for much, anymore, are Bethesda games and, ironically, Playstation platforms have typically been my preferred and only latest-generation platforms. I'm angry at the mismatching of my favorite game company with their least catered to platform and don't know what to do.

Well, even though I wasn't happy with the performance issues on the PS3 version of Fallout 3, it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the game to an unbearable degree. Although it may seem like it, Bethesda really doesn't have that bad of a track record on the PS3. Oblivion on the PS3 was an improvement over the 360 version in nearly every respect from a technical standpoint. Fallout 3 had better textures on the PS3, but for some reason the performance really suffered.

The PS3 can obviously do these games a great deal of justice as proven by Oblivion on the PS3, but for some reason the engine wasn't optimized for streaming background data in the PS3 version of Fallout. That's what gave it the rough performance issues.

My biggest hope for Skyrim is that this new engine solves that streaming problem, and the textures themselves should be of even higher quality than the 360 version. This is mainly due to the extra install data and the fact that the Blu Ray disc can handle more uncompressed textures and audio. I just want the performance aspect of the game to match or exceed that of the 360's version. I know it's possible because Bethesda did it with Oblivion. Maybe if they need extra time for the PS3, they should just delay it. The improved performance would be well worth waiting a month or two.

Like I said, I'm sure Bethesda will do the best they can with the time they're given with each platform. I would just love to see a nice assurance that the new engine runs well with the PS3's hardware. Not just in terms of visual fidelity with the textures because that was never an issue. The performance is far more important.

Bethesda are coming from a primarily PC background into the console world, with one machine with architecture very much like a PC, and the other... the PS3. Super different, instead of a powerful general purpose processor it has a lot of specialised SPEs, it seems very much like Oblivion PS3 was a quick hack job, and F3 PS3 was better, but still built upon that technology.

Basically, you can't shoehorn an entire game engine onto a completely new architecture without getting some problems, they did very well. I have no doubt that the PS3 was a major consideration in designing their new engine, and having it done from scratch will let it be much better.

I think both console version will be very similar, If gamesas use cell spe probably Ps3 look more better on texture Resolution ..